Dear Reader, I just fired off an email to Sam, the guy who runs the bakery in town. And I’m feeling pretty good about it.
You see, I saw a friend’s Facebook post saying Sam is switching half his inventory to gluten-free and low-fat items. I don’t really shop there, but that’s BS, right? Why’s he pushing that lifestyle agenda? So here’s what I wrote him:
"Do me a favor: Go kill your ****ing self, please, you ****ing worthless piece of ****. I hope your building blows up and burns down with all you ******s in it. YOU are the problem. Burn in hell, ******s."
What? That’s not appropriate?
Welcome to the life of a journalist in 2021. That’s a condensed version of an actual comment sent to MLive’s branded Facebook account last week.
And it’s not a one-off. Here’s an email to a reporter last summer, after the journalist noted that reports of federal agents detaining protesters in Portland were unsubstantiated:
"Allegedly detaining protestors? You're a ****ing coward. **** your ****** apartment and that worthless life of yours that you think you should be protecting, scumbag. Die slow."
Find that shameful? Apparently the author didn’t – the email included his real name. Both aspects are growing trends – hateful, angry, vile and threatening harassment of journalists; and people feeling no compunctions whatsoever about putting their real names on that sewage.
Did you notice that personal detail in the example above, about the apartment? Some people have gone so far as to “dox” our employees – to find and publish personal information like addresses and phone numbers so other people can harass them. In one case, harassers tracked down the parents of one of our journalists.
To my initial point: What on earth possesses people to think it’s OK – even by today’s uncivil standards – to viciously attack someone for doing their job? To track them down in their personal lives? It’s happening with alarming frequency, and severity, to journalists.
The abuse is spread around pretty evenly – I am subjected to name-calling and profanity, too – but there is a definite sexist edge to the attacks on women journalists. Just as the public attacks on politicians have misogynist tropes like "witch" and "Mom."
"This year has been exponentially worse than anything I've ever experienced, which is saying something – I covered Trump ‘16 and Larry Nassar," said one female MLive reporter. "(I’m) hoping acknowledging it can perhaps encourage people to direct their vitriol elsewhere, especially in instances where journalists are just the messenger."
People, this needs to stop, now. It might be tempting to look for a top-of-the-funnel solution, like hoping that social, business or political pressures will compel Facebook and Twitter to take action to police the most abhorrent behavior, or clean up their spaces. Or that law enforcement will take seriously threats against journalists. Don’t hold your breath.
Instead, it’s going to take the 99.9 percent of us who DON’T act this way to do something about it. Don’t participate in hateful internet discussions, but don’t look the other way, either: Call it out when you see it.
Treat the online boor like crowds do when we have to suffer the idiot who’s heckling a performer, or hurling obscenities at a ball player in front of children. Confront them, challenge them, put them back in the margins where they long dwelled before the internet gave them a megaphone.
I, and other journalists at MLive, welcome thoughtful questions and critiques of our reporting; we engage daily in reasoned conversations with our readers and sources. It’s a necessary part of being thorough and holding our work up to the standards of our customers, and communities. Here’s a note from a reader this week, at the conclusion of a long back-and-forth with a reporter:
"That clears things up a bit, I know you are not required to respond to every disgruntled reader and the thorough response is commendable. I’ll continue to follow MLive and trust that you are not being alarmist for political motives."
When someone starts with **** and ******* there’s no room for discussion and there’s no reason to lean in for substance. It diminishes us all.
Reasonable and respectful exchanges aren’t quaint relics of a better time – they are the glue that holds together personal relationships, and civil democratic society. Let’s demand better, and let’s keep being better ourselves. # # #
🎧 My “Behind the Headlines” podcast this week is a special edition: I have a great discussion with my cohost and producer, Eric Hultgren, who is the director of social media + content for MLive Media Group. Eric’s an expert on social media and culture, and has thoughtful observations on how we got where we are, what the cost is to society, and how we can maybe start getting ourselves pointed toward civility. Click here to listen to the conversation.
Editor's note: I value your feedback to my columns, story tips and your suggestions on how to improve our coverage. Let me know how MLive helps you, and how we can do better. Please feel free to reach out by emailing me at editor@mlive.com.
John Hiner Executive Editor Vice President of Content Mlive Media Group
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